Russia to be Particularly Screwed by Climate Change

According to a new report from the World Bank, Russia is screwed. And in case you hadn't inferred, that's not quite a verbatim quote from the report. But it's more or less apt, unfortunately: the study finds that Russia's outdated infrastructure, Soviet "environmental mismanagement," and the extreme nature of its climate, the nation is particularly vulnerable to the threat of climate change. It's screwed.Not sure why I picked today to start doling out blunt terms to those to be afflicted by climate change, but I did. And I've got nothing against Russia--except for the Kremlin's seeming willingness to perpetrate human rights violations, its climate progress-obstructing policies and its crushing suppression of free media--but I've certainly got nothing but sympathy for the Russian people. In fact, I hope Medvedev's government can get the infrastructure up to snuff and start actually engaging productively in climate change talks before it's too late.

Because if this report is even close to accurate, things are going to be bad.

The world's biggest energy exporter is more exposed to the extremes of an evolving climate than European and Central Asian nations, the Washington-based lender said in a report today. The depth of seasonal melting in areas covered by permafrost may increase by as much as 50 percent by 2050, the bank forecast.

Which is, of course, extremely bad news. Severe storms, heat waves, and extreme flooding will all be a part of the fallout that could occur within the next 50 years. And though climate change will hit harder in Russia because of its extensive permafrost, the real reason that the nation is in singular trouble is because of its very poorly prepared cities and towns.

"Poorly constructed, badly maintained, and aging infrastructure and housing -- a legacy of both the Soviet era and the transition years -- are ill-suited to cope with storms, heat waves, or floods, let alone protect people from such extreme events," said the study headed by Zeljko Bogetic, the World Bank's lead economist for Russia . . .Floods or other "extreme events" can cause far greater damage in Russia than would be the case in other parts of the world, the World Bank report said.